Ultima III

As you guys make use of the original data files, is it possible for you to post the % chances for various items/gold to appear? Also, is it possible to find out if the method used to open a chest has any bearing on the end contents, or even the opener's Dex/Wis scores (for Thieving/Appar Unem)?

The contents of a chest is not determined until it is opened, thus this isn't really related to original data files -- but like most everything else in my port of Ultima III the behavior is taken directly from a disassembly of the original Apple II version. Some wacky 8-bit CPU logic, but here's the gist:

"Get" (Dexterity) vs. "Appar Unem" (Wisdom) only affects the likelihood of a trap being set off, not in any way the contents of the chest.

Chests randomly contain between 30-99 gold pieces, with amounts less than 60 somewhat more likely.

25% of the time, an item might also be included:

First, a 50% chance for a weapon. Weapon type is anything from Hands up to 2 Handed Sword, with a sort-of logarithmically decreasing likelihood as you go up. If it ends up choosing Hands, it doesn't include a weapon after all.

If no weapon is included, there's a similar process for choosing Armour starting at 50% probability, from Skin logarithmically up to Chain. Likewise, if Skin is chosen it doesn't include any armour in the chest.

It would be kind of disturbing to find hands and skin in a chest, I suppose ...